DIPLOMATIC EFFECTS / CH. 18:COMPENSATION
MARS COUNCIL OFFICES, 11AM, WEDSOL 13TH MARCH
“This is what India and China claimed we were on the verge of agreeing to, subject to corroboration with our records?” Svetlana asked with distaste.
“Yes, your highness.” Mack agreed, “From what you've said and has been published, I presume you're going to deny the ratios.”
“Yes. My father has made the assumption that not all of the reports got intercepted. So, here is a complete copy of the reports that the Russian secret service operatives transmitted from Mars.” She passed over a small pile of paper. “Here is the complete list of targets or potential targets allocated under the tripartite plan, and here are more detailed records for those allocated to Russia.
“It is colour-coded. The names on a red background were executed by Russian forces, those on a blue background died of other causes before testing. Dates are the date of checking, red means they talked about the missing clauses, green they didn't.”
“And the dates that are white on black?”
“Determined not guilty by us, but the date they died of breather failure. You'll see that for about half the names.”
“According to rumours spread by India and China, Russia assassinated just over half of the victims.”
“As long as you make that 'of those executed from Russia's third of the descendants of firsters,' we are in agreement.” Svetlana said, grimly, “alternatively you could say they assassinated lots of their thirds and then almost as many as we did from our list.”
“What about the people who are just normal black on white?”
“Not located, not tested, not executed. Not many are there?”
“No. I had assumed the fraction of people tested that got killed would be higher,” Frank said.
“You'll see there's an appendix to the list about the testing technique. Unless the interviewee approached the interviewer, the initial test consisted of at least eight hours of trust-building over a three month period. A lot of that would have been just becoming a recognised face. Then a free discussion on the future of the colony or similar topic, lasting at least quarter of an hour, possibly spread over three separate meetings. If there was some doubt, then maybe further discussion, possibly bugging of their residence, and so on. Most people were declared not a problem after that first interview.” Flipping through the proposed compensation document, Svetlana spotted something else she wasn't happy with. “The sum is insulting.”
“Pardon?”
“The compensation sum in this document for widows and children. It barely works out to a hundred kilos, does it? `Sorry for our involvement in killing your husband and father, as a token of our sorrow, have a hundred kilos of gloop between the five of you' No. Absolutely not.”
“We're not on the biostuff standard any more highness.”
“I know. And transport credits are so much more valuable than fertiliser, aren't they, so I should have said, what, two hundred kilos of gloop? I still think it's a gross insult.
From the people we executed, I see seventy-five deaths leaving dependants. Think, Mack! The sum total for that isn't even eight tonnes! Even the firster's ship, what was it called in English, the Adventure?,” Mack nodded, “could carry fifty tonnes, and the Jupiter class can carry four hundred. Just think of things from that perspective, Mack. Please throw that back in China's face. I won't be a party to negotiating anything that insulting.”
“But you are able to negotiate?”
“I have authority over all of Russia's activities outside the atmosphere, Mack. I can negotiate. I even can approve, up to a certain closely guarded figure. What I can't do is promise to stay round until negotiations are finished.”
“Would Russia be willing to negotiate a separate deal to India and China?”
“Yes. Personally, I don't trust them, and would prefer it.”
“And you are also the person to organise a trade deal with.”
Svetlana pulled a face, “Trade deals, trade deals, everyone talks about trade deals, as if there wasn't enough manufacturing on Earth. It's not about trade, Mack. Every time someone does a trade deal for extra special price on goods then the manufacturing costs suffer. It's about buying influence by reducing arbitrary barriers or giving people cheap shoddy goods. Can we do something else, please?”
“China are offering high quality steel.”
“Imported from China.”
“Yes.”
“And so Mars becomes dependent on Chinese imported steel, never builds its own production, and then perhaps there's some little thing that China wants and Mars doesn't want, then suddenly there's a problem with the quality control at the factory, and they say oh sorry, we'll have to fix it before we send it on to Mars. And the next thing you know you're begging them to send you anything and they've got you in the palm of their hands.”
Mack followed her logic with a sinking feeling; it sounded like so many history lessons. “You have a better suggestion?”
“Yes. We could build you a proper steelworks here. It's not like there's no iron here, after all.”
“Just like that?”
“As part of a treaty, of course.”
“And what would Russia want?”
“Ah, now you're starting to negotiate, Mack.” Svetlana grinned, “You've heard my little speech about what makes us tick. What would you like to offer me? Or at least, what do I want?”
“You want Russia to be able to hold its head high, not be an international pariah,”
“Oooh, well spotted. Anything else?”
“You want a bit of Mars, something like Atlantis is getting. Land in exchange for assistance in terraforming. It's why you took part in MarsCorp from the beginning.”
“Are you offering that?”
“The Mer can help us build a comet catcher, and they can push some comets in our general direction. But it's too risky to just assume the catcher will work. We need the comets to miss if the catcher doesn't work.”
“You need something like the sheepdogs to follow it down the gravity well, and keep it on course. And you want someone around to make sure the sheepdogs work properly.”
“Yes. And we probably don't want to afford to pay MarsCorp to do it.”
“A certain amount of land per tonne of ice delivered then? Russia develops the technology, and trains Martians as cosmonauts.”
“Why train Martians?”
“It helps avoid accusations that we're out to bomb you. Plus it makes more sense for family links, and so on; they're going to be resupplying here, after all, and it probably costs less, over all. But perhaps we'd ship in some of our trainers. Some would be happy to become Martians, I'm sure. Then of course, once the steel mill is working and other high tech metal plants too, for that matter, it would make sense to do some local construction here, wouldn't it?”
Mack laughed, “I'm sure it would, your highness. I'm sure it would. Do I assume you'd need to at least run this by your father?”
“Oh, I'm sure I would. I'm also sure that as long as you don't set the ratio of land to comet mass too low then he's going to be interested.”
“How much would you think is reasonable?”
“I'm guessing we're talking about a ten year programme, yes?”
“At least.”
“Well, the Mer are getting their sea. Which is a lot of land. I assume we can't get that much out of you. But... if perhaps by the end of it we were getting five or ten percent of what they get? Would that be reasonable? I think there are lots of different arguments that could apply to raise it or lower it.”
“The Mer sea, once created will have benefits to all of Mars.”
“Yes. Sea is important to all Mars. So will tundra and taiga be.” Svetlana pointed out.
“And you have expertise in restoring and managing both ecosystems,” Mack said.
“So, our hope would be to provide an ongoing benefit to all Mars, and in return would want a treaty of friendship similar to the Mer.”
“The Mer have requested that their own law prevails in the sea.”
“You would not want Russian law, I assume,” Svetlana said, “I will not insist on that.”
“Thank you, Tsarevna. What would you want?”
“We would want the right to determine who extracts wood from the taiga we plant and how much, who has rights to do anything on the tundra — it's a fragile ecosystem, after all. These would be for the environmental benefit of Mars, but not the economic benefit of illegal loggers or uncontrolled tourism, so we would want them to be treated as claimed land.”
“That sounds reasonable to me at first hearing. And it gives you an ongoing benefit, so I can see the appeal to you.”
“Something else you have agreed with the Mer is the council of unity. I said at the beginning it is all about influence, so, let us be honest and open about it, not underhand. I ask that Russia be represented on that council. I also ask that you and the Mer lay down hard and permanent rules about what determines a nation's eligibility to be on that council and make sure that the pressure of economic or military blackmail can't be applied to get a seat on it.”
“You don't think that tying all these things together constitutes economic blackmail?”
“I leave that determination to you and the Mer, Mr Chairman. I offer our strengths, and our honest friendship in exchange for prestige and a small voice on the future of this planet. I want Mars colonisation to work, and not be vulnerable to a blockade. Oh, speaking of blockades, get breather production here, please. Just think what would happen if LunaCorp decided to apply pressure.”
“Russia has a significant shareholding in LunaCorp. Is that a threat?”
“No. It's a warning from... well I hope you will consider me a future ally, even if you don't yet. My brother suggested it a few years back, but mother and I convinced my imperial Father not to listen.”
“Highness, hearing you speaking like this, I realise how much the individual matters. It's... shocking I guess, to realise how much policy can change from one ruler to the next, or one advisor to the next.”
“It can, yes. Beware of the weak absolute ruler, tossed and turned by any plan. This is one reason the world can be glad we keep our treaties almost as well as the Mer do. Otherwise, the fate of the world might hinge on whether my father is happy, angry or sad. And be glad my mother is by his side, for he does not stay angry for long when she's near.”
“And you may be glad that the Tsarevna has her ladies in waiting,” Olga added, “because we are always ready to hit her over the head with a pillow if she starts getting silly. If I may interject, highness, I think you have given the chairman enough to think of now.”
“I thank my advisor for showing me the total respect due my position,” Svetlana said, with a grin. “Mr Chairman, she's right, I believe. I suppose I should say, though, that while the steelworks project could be a government project, it could equally be a commercial one.”
“Really? You think that there are commercial companies who'd want to set up here?”
“It depends on lots of things, but yes, I've seen quite a few petitions which basically read 'please sort out the politics so we can start talking to the council about expanding on Mars.'”
“She's signed one of them, too.” Olga chipped in.
“What's wrong with that? You did too,” Svetlana said, then explained, “My Grandma left us both shares in the company.”
“You don't feel that there might be a conflict of interest?” Mack asked.
“Between it being a government-sponsored project earning good will and a commercial project which might eventually earn some money?” Svetlana asked. “Absolutely, I'd much rather have the good will.”
“Perhaps you ought to talk to the steelworks management then,” Mack said, “because so far, as far as I understand, there have been no offers of the sort of investment needed to let them produce decent steel.”
“Oh? I'll try and visit them some time I'm free, then.”
“And you're really planning to visit the prison this afternoon?”
“Assuming that's acceptable?” Svetlana asked.
“Yes. Just make sure your body guards are with you.”
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HIGH SECURITY PRISION, MARS, 2PM WEDSOL 13TH MARCH
“This is Vladimir, he's a reporter. If you don't want him here, just say. If you don't want me here, just say, for that matter.” Svetlana told the prisoner.
“And if he goes, you go, imperial highness?” The prisoner asked, assuming she was making sure he didn't say the wrong thing.
“Not at all. But if I go, then he goes. I am the one with questions for you, Vladimir is a responsible young man who does not want to be banned from the palace. He is trusted to keep secrets.”
“I understand, highness.”
“So, you are detained because they found you with sabotage fluid.”
“Yes, highness.”
“Do you know how it was found?”
“They used a truthsayer.”
“What interrogation techniques were used against you?”
“They just asked me some questions, highness. Stupid questions, two plus two, who won the first world war, who was Shakespere, who used the first neutron bomb, what is the chemical formula of water. I guess I started trying to guess when they'd ask about the sabotage fluid. Then they asked 'where is it?'.”
“And the truthsayer reported on what you thought?”
“No. She told them I was lying.”
“So they let you incriminate yourself.”
“They showed me my luggage and asked yes-no questions. Is it in there? I said no, she said 'a lie'. They found it.”
“Cunning. Which section were you assigned to, my records don't say.”
“Section forty-two.” he replied.
“Forty two? Imperial Space Force section forty-two is catering. Someone's idea of a joke — the answer to life the universe and everything is a full stomach.”
“Secret Space Service, section forty two.”
“How did you join?” Svetlana asked, not missing a beat. The Secret Space Service was a fictional agency in a cartoon series she'd last seen when she was ten, about hyper-intelligent mice who reported directly to the Tsar.
Ten minutes of explanation and questioning later she asked, “Did you ever think that the 'Secret Space Service' might be entirely fictional?”
“Well, yes, as a child, highness.”
“But now you're an adult you think there are mice who fly spaceships?”
“No, highness, but the...” he stopped, “The news said a general was sacked for restarting the assassinations?”
“He was, yes. And you've just told me of Indians being involved in recruiting you. Didn't that ever strike you as odd?”
“But...” he didn't finish.
“There is no pension scheme for the Secret Space Service, because it does not exist, except as an animated cartoon series. You've been tricked into joining a scheme which plotted murder and has discredited Russia and my Imperial Father. Someone has committed treason, but I do not believe it was you.”
“But... you said you had records about me.”
“Yes. I have your school record, and you passed your driving test on the fifth try. You then left your job and emigrated to your lovely prison cell on Mars for no apparent reason. Thank you for filling in the gap. There is almost certainly nothing I can say that will reduce your sentence here.”
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HIGH SECURITY PRISION, MARS, 5PM WEDSOL 13TH MARCH
“Section forty-two,” the fifth prisoner replied, just like the others.
“Of the Secret Space Service?”
“'Super-Mice can fly!'” the young man quoted. “Highness? Is it real? I thought it was all a big joke, and I went along with it. I didn't mind the training courses because it was crazy and fun and I was looking forward to seeing everyone's face when the reporter jumped out of the dustbin, or something. Then I got the ticket, and the real sabotage fluid, and I really got on a ship to Mars, and that bit was excellent since I've always wanted to come, but still no camera crew came, and this jail is real. Is section forty two real?”
“Section forty two is the catering department of the Imperial Space Force, since, according to someone, a full stomach is the answer to all a spaceman's questions. I know of no other section forty-two, nor do I know of any Secret Space Service except the one that employs mice.”
“I was terrified it might have been real, highness. I never wanted to kill anyone.”
“Did you tell that to the authorities here?”
“I was afraid it might put me on a hit-list.”
“Do you recognise any of these pictures?”
“This man is the one they called the general,” he said, looking through the pictures carefully, “This might be the woman who recruited me. This man looks familiar, but I don't remember why. This woman I've seen in the news, about the cars parked in Monaco. She looks quite like you, highness, except for the shape of her eyes and the mole. Is she a relative?”
“Princess Claire inherited her title from my grandmother. You have good memory skills. This man again?”
“Was he connected to the Secret Space Service films?”
“Well done,” Svetlana said, “very well done. What would you have done if you had got to Mars and been told to kill someone?”
“I planned it out. I would have been clumsy, and made sure I got caught, somehow. I had another spray bottle, identical; one for the murder fluid and another for water. I can do slight of hand. Anyone watching wouldn't notice, except when the person targeted didn't die.”
“I see. I will speak to the council on your behalf, but I have no authority here.”
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Russian Princess feeds protesters, gives answers
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Taking the biblical injunction 'if your enemy is hungry, feed him' literally, Crown Princess Svetlana of Russia donned her mars-suit instead of her royal robes, and under the false name 'Tanya', helped embassy staff deliver hot soup and nutrient bars to the protesters who were outside the embassies of Atlantis and the Restored Kingdom late last night. As well as delivering soup, she and staff also delivered answers. Grinding assertions by China and India that no-one had any records firmly into dust, by the time they'd finished their soup the protesters knew which country “ought” to have killed their relative, and if that was Russia, then which one actually did — according to the records 'Tanya' had, the other two nations were not happy with the semi-judicial process that Russian agents went through, collecting evidence that they were actually talking about the missing clauses to people, rather than just killing them on discovery.
One man discovered that his father had been killed by a Russian agent after the then-Tsar had ended the 'enforcement' of this unpublished 'law'. The criminal agent was arrested, dragged back to Russia in chains, tried and executed for murder. All secretly of course.
The Mars Council have now been given the records, and the princess has begun the process of negotiating Russia's compensation of surviving relatives. Her first act in that negotiation was to dismiss the sum proposed by India and China as an entirely insulting slap in the face to the victims' families.
The Indian and Chinese ambassadors remain at Helas, attempting to rescue the floundering rice field project, however a spokesperson for India stated that it was very convenient for Russia that they had such detailed documents, and he hoped the ink was dry.
The veracity of the records is of course an important issue. If they are accurate, then Russia is responsible for approximately thirteen percent of the victims, rather than the fifty-five percent previously attributed to them by rumours.
Mack Fischer, the Chairman of the Mars Council, has stated that he has a lot less faith in convenient losses of data and rumours than in records that contain details that agree with intercept data, jogged people's memories and made them say 'Oh, but that's not right' check with friends and in the end agree, 'oh yes, it is right, I'd forgotten that.' That is to say, every bit of the Russian records he'd checked bore up to scrutiny.
When asked about when the long-awaited trade deal might be processed he stated that having had a break from thinking about the details and looking at the bigger picture, he will not be recommending any trade deal to the Council that increases Mars's dependency on imports from Earth. This is clearly a massive blow to China, whose trading position was based upon them importing high quality steel more cheaply than Mars can produce any grade of steel at present. Mr Fischer explained that while there would be continued issues with tool production until quality local alloys could be produced, he was working for an independent Mars where there would be local production, and it was a step backwards to export Martian jobs to another place.
The staff at the Mars steel works were overjoyed at this change of stance.
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NEWS REPORT FOR EARTH AND MARS CIRCULATION, WEDSOL, 13TH MARCH. BY VLADIMIR VLADIMIROVICH
After a closed session this morning discussing the question of compensation for victims of Russia's involvement in the tripartite plan, her imperial highness spent this afternoon at the prison, where she interviewed five prisoners arrested for possession of the sabotage chemical. A number of similar elements emerged from each one: they had been in a bar discussing politics and expressed a desire that Mars be more Russian, somewhat drunk, and as they left had been approached by, depending on the case, a man or woman who looked roughly Indian, but spoke good Russian. They were then spoken to by someone referred to as 'the general', although he wore no uniform.
After a 'selection process', when they were scored against some unknown criteria and unknown opposition, they were told they had passed and were now part of a top secret wing of the 'Secret Space Service', and would receive a significant pension. They were then given instructions in sabotaging breathers. They had their tickets to Mars paid for by 'the general', and were informed they would be given a list of targets on their arrival on Mars.
Tsarevna Svetlana then informed the five prisoners that there was no such organisation as the Secret Space Service except in fiction, and that they had been part of a treasonous plot to discredit Russia. On hearing this, two of the prisoners reacted with anger, shouting that she was denying them their pension rights, and had to be restrained and sedated. Two prisoners were stunned that they'd been taken in. One said he was relieved, and he'd hoped her imperial highness would tell him something like that. He claimed he'd only signed up because he had been so desperate to get to Mars, and had fully planned on turning himself in to the authorities when he got here.
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NEWS REPORT, RUSSIA TODAY, WEDNESDAY 13TH MARCH.
Disgraced former-general Sakarov arrested on charge of accepting bribes and treason
Reports are emerging that the former general-in-charge of the Imperial Space Force has been arrested on charges of: accepting bribes from a foreign government; of perjury before an imperial investigation committee; of acting against the express will of the Tsar; and of secretly recruiting a private army of assassins, an act of high treason.
If found guilty on any charge, the death penalty will apply.
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NEWS REPORT, FOR MARS AND EARTH CIRCULATION, NOON THURSOL 14TH MARCH
Tsarevna discusses steel-works deal
Unconfirmed reports are emerging from the Mars Steelworks of a series of meetings taking place this morning between Tsarevna Svetlana, senior management and workers representatives. The rumours suggest that the princess, also a major shareholder in the RusSteel corporation, is in favour of bringing not just tool-grade steel production to Mars, but aiming for top quality alloys, such as space-grade stainless steels, an area where RusSteel has reportedly reached its production capacity. RusSteel management are also said to have been in contact.
For Mars SteelWorks, a deal would obviously mean new plant, increased workforce and many new markets to explore. For RusSteel a deal would presumably mean they were able to satisfy orders with production from Mars as well as Earth and gain access to Mars Mining's readily available ores. If the interest in producing top quality alloys is genuine, it means good news for a whole host of local industries, and raises the interesting question of whether the RusSteel subsidiary and MarsCorp's spacecraft maintenance contractor, RusSpace, might also be interested in setting up a base here.
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CORRECTION TO NEWS REPORT, FOR MARS AND EARTH CIRCULATION, 1PM, THURSOL 14TH MARCH
Apology, Steelworks deal hopes
We wholeheartedly apologise for an editing error which mis-labeled RusSpace as a merely a maintenance contractor to MarsCorp. RusSpace is of course a long-standing spacecraft design and construction company, with a long history of innovative designs to its name, including the ever-reliable Celestia class and the Alpha-class ultra-capacity transports which played such an important role in the early stages of population boost. Also, it was a RusSpace-designed and built high-thrust courier ship that in 2272 halved the speed record for manned Earth-Mars transit, and still holds that record for conventional reaction-mass thrust vessels.
We thank RusSpace press relations for their gracious response to our error and for confirming that RusSpace management are extremely interested in a Mars branch, and hope that all the necessary agreements can be reached between the Mars Council and other parties that would allow them to start their own negotiations with the council. RusSpace press relations also stated that they already have a small design office on Mars and while of course we are still in the realm of ideas and not of promises or contracts, RusSpace see no fundamental reasons that they should not eventually be able to extend all operations to Mars, once support industries are in place.
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EMBASSY OF THE RESTORED KINGDOM, MARS, 7PM THUSOL 14TH MARCH, 2278
“Thank you, Alice for cooking this for us,” Svetlana said, surveying the meal. “It smells and looks lovely.”
“It does,” Olga jumped in, “We're going to need to diet on our flight home, I think.”
“I was about to say, sadly I think I actually need to refuse all but a mouthful. I'm not really feeling hungry.”
“Are you OK?” Alice asked.
“I'm coming down with a bit of a headache. Just too much excitement in the last few days, I think. Don't look worried, Olga, I'm fine.”
“You're sure?” Alice asked.
“Yes,” Svetlana insisted.
“No,” Heather said, “Princess is sick. She's yucky green.”
“Heather, what have Mummy and Daddy said about saying what you see about people?”
“Only in emergencies. Like now, princess is emergency. Look, mummy!” and Heather pressed her hand into her mother's.
Svetlana looked between the four year old and her mother, and said, “Err, is this where I pretend I've not seen reports about you being relieved about people wearing gloves, your excellency?”
Alice laughed, “Gloves are wonderful. You knowing makes that part of it easier. The mer call Heather a seer,” Alice said, “that's to say someone who sees things others don't. She sees you as significantly ill, highness.”
“I'm pretty sure it's just sinus pain.”
Heather shook her head and repeated “Nasty yucky green head.”
“Highness,” Simon said, “Heather hasn't learned it's rude to use her gift on every other person she meets yet. So she's seen plenty of people with colds and the like. I'd recommend that if she says it's worse than that, you take it seriously.”
[Simon, what would you guess?] Alice thought to her husband.
[Serious infection in her skull, and I'm not just talking sinuses. Meningitis maybe? Shall I tell her I can see it too?]
“The 'nasty yucky green' she's seeing isn't just sinuses, either,” Alice said, “Your highness, do you have any other symptoms?” Olga asked.
“Well, I might be starting influenza, I guess.”
“Not influence,” Heather insisted, “yucky green head, like Rodger.”
“When he went to hospital?” Alice asked.
“Yes. Princess sick, like Rodger.”
“Rodger's one of the reporters Alice works with,” Simon told Svetlana and her friends, “He came down with meningitis a few months ago.”
“Highness,” Leonid said, “it is my duty to your imperial father to ensure that you get to the hospital for tests if there is any chance of you having that.”
“Then I guess I'm going to hospital,” Svetlana said, “but I don't feel like I'm an emergency at the moment so I'm going to insist on my friends eating first.”
“I have a better idea, highness,” Simon said. “You allow your friends to bully you into the MarsMobile, and then they allow you to bully them to eat on the way.”
“Princess sick. Very sick,” Heather declared.
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NEWS REPORT, FOR MARS AND EARTH CIRCULATION, 9PM THURSOL 14TH MARCH
Tsarevna in hospital for tests
After a hectic four days of meetings, press interviews and public speeches (including time out to feed people protesting her presence), Tsarevna Svetlana has been admitted to the Mars hospital suffering from increasingly painful headache, nausea and a fever. Medical staff said that the evidence so far pointed to meningitis, but test results were not yet back. Her chief lady-in-waiting informed reporters that her Imperial Highness thanks God that she allowed four year old Heather Findhorn-Bunting to persuade her to cut short her planned discussion and to not delay seeking medical attention, and that she is certain that she is now exactly where she needs to be and is in good hands.
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NEWS REPORT, FOR MARS AND EARTH CIRCULATION, 11AM FRISOL 15TH MARCH
Council agrees unified negotiating position
While Russia has decried as insulting the compensation plan that India and China claimed some months ago were 'as good as signed', and refused to enter into joint negotiations involving the other two parties, the Mars Council has today decided that the compensation offered to the families of victims of the tripartite plan must be entirely equivalent.
Russia's position, that the other two nations have displayed a lack of faith and a trivialising attitude to their involvement and the 'immoral even if not illegal' killings, is clearly uncomfortable for the other two ambassadors, especially since the princess has the authority to agree to negotiations, as is her statement that she will not be a party to Russia paying any compensation plan that 'is so small it might get accidentally overlooked when unloading in a hurry.'
Her allusion is clearly referring to last cycle's embarrassing incident where the Saturn was delayed after a forty-tonne factory unit for Mars delivery was not noticed by cargo handlers until the vessel was being re-loaded for its return flight. India and China's previous position, often-stated to the Council, had been that they would gladly offer more, but Russia would not accept a higher compensation package than twice the 'accidental death' sum for space-workers. Based on the numbers from the Tsarevna's list this would come to a total cost to Russia of about eight tonnes.
Clearly that figure did not have any actual support from anyone in authority in St Petersburg, and the Tsarevna's comparison suggests that she's thinking of a sum considerably larger. Whether she actually intended a strict comparison and the compensation package to be at least five times larger than India and China's position is uncertain.
In either case, the Council's decision and the princess's illness clearly combine to give the opportunity for them to reassess their negotiating position.
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NEWS REPORT, FOR MARS AND EARTH CIRCULATION, 1PM FRISOL 15TH MARCH
Tsarevna appoints prospective lady in waiting as negotiator
The life-long friend of Tsarevna Svetlana, Yuliya Mihaiovna, described previously as 'seeing if she wants to be my advisor/lady in waiting or would prefer another job' was today appointed as the Tsarevna's negotiator in the compensation deal. The Tsarevna herself is undergoing treatment for bacterial meningitis, a potentially life-threatening disease, but is determined that she wants the compensation package to be agreed upon soon.
Further to our earlier report, Miss Mihaiovna has been in contact to state yes the Tsarevna had meant that she'd grudgingly accept a compensation package that meant Russia transported forty tonnes, if that was the best India and China were prepared to offer. She also stated that the Tsarevna was not in favour of haggling over people's pain and loss, and while she fully understood the Council's position of requiring equal treatment she hoped it would not turn into a long and complicated multi-way dispute.
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MARS COUNCIL CHAMBER, 3PM FRISOL
“Miss Mihaiovna?” Mack asked, after the long-winded presentation by India's representative about how they'd negotiated with someone they believed was a true representative of the Russian government.
“I thank the Indian ambassador for the additional list of charges to be laid at the feet of a traitor and his controlling nation. But if I might, I would like to suggest this is irrelevant to the discussion at hand.
"I understand China once said they would be willing to pay compensation of ten times what was then on the table; Well, so is Russia. The tripartite plan was wrongly made and can easily, from Mars's perspective, be considered a murderous conspiracy. Under the laws of Russia, the actions of our agents were legal, but many of the actions of the agents of other nations were not legal. Russia acknowledges that the complexities of jurisdiction meant we did little except warn people who were at risk. So, I notice this is the judicial chamber of Mars. I am sure the Council are used to juggling the issues of justice, mercy and retribution as it considers fines and compensation. I ask for mercy on behalf of my country, for I do not feel we bear the brunt of the blame nor are we as numerous as some, but I humbly suggest this sovereign court take control of this case. Since when did the killer and his accomplices set his own sentence?”
“You call that negotiating?” the Ambassador for India exclaimed.
“I call it a very constructive attitude,” Raul said. “And yes, I most certainly remember that India also concurred with the figure from China of how much they'd like to set as compensation.”
“Me too,” Mack said. “Do your excellencies wish to quibble?”
The Chinese ambassador gave a sad smile, “I would love to be able to accept, but unfortunately I would have to seek ratification from my government.”
“I believe I am able to accept that figure, split equally between each party to the accord,” the Indian ambassador said.
“So your agents murder people we had determined not guilty and you expect us to compensate their relatives?” Yuliya asked, outraged.
“Your records are so very convenient for you,” the Chinese Ambassador said, “unfortunately we do not have as much faith in them as you do, and prefer an equal distribution.”
“I'm sure you do. You preferred it when you were blaming us for half the deaths, too.”
Mack smiled, “Your excellencies, madam negotiator, I have heard very good things about the information gathering skills of the Restored Kingdom from a number of sources, and I'm sure you're aware they are absolutely obsessive about not throwing data away that might have some bearing on a royal promise. I'm so sorry that neither India nor China have still not been able to rediscover their records but, fortunately, the lost data is not altogether lost. So, this council will base our decisions on what we know.”
“And where you do not know?” the Indian ambassador asked.
“Where we do not know, Mr ambassador,” Claudia said, “we will use statistical methods to determine the reliability of the data available, and when that fails we will use the principles of proportional blame.”
Yuliya, who had a fairly good idea what that would result in, suppressed a smile, and said seriously “Russia would prefer that our unedited historical data be accepted without question, but we accept this principle.”
“I believe we can accept this principle,” the Chinese ambassador said.
“I too,” agreed the representative of India, reluctantly.
“One issue that has not been mentioned is the question of killings where there are no surviving relatives on Mars,” Mack said, “I believe the most appropriate solution is that the same payment be made.”
“Who to?” the Indian ambassador asked.
“Where appropriate, next of kin off Mars. Otherwise, the council will accept it along with the fines this court will levy. I hope no one finds that an unacceptable principle to communicate to their government.”
“I'm authorised to say that Russia accepts this principle,” Yuliya said. Based on the data she'd seen, it was just one extra death on Russia's account.
“Fines?” China asked.
“Clearly,” Mack said, “as long as a nation's actions are legal and within it's own territory, what it does to its own citizens is not a matter for international review. But when law is trespassed and no jurisdiction has been claimed, as I believe to be the case, it's a different matter, is it not? As the court with jurisdiction over the territory where alleged unlawfulness occurred, I believe we have a responsibility to act. If your governments prefer, of course, and fear that your nations will not be treated fairly, you may refer the cases of extra-judicial, extra-territorial and unjustified killing recently brought to our attention to the international criminal court. But in any case, this is a totally separate issue to that of compensation for loss of a relative.”
Yuliya nodded in absolute agreement.
“Of course it is,” the Indian ambassador said quickly, as the Chinese ambassador was about to reply, “with the compensation we distance ourselves from past wrong-doings and demonstrate that we are good, trustworthy friends to the people of Mars.”
His Chinese counterpart recovered quickly and said “And by not protesting the Council's decision to issue fines, we demonstrate that we recognise the legitimate government of the planet.”
“And here I was thinking like the rash and cynical teenager I used to be, that you would want to buy some good will for the sake of a better trade deal,” Yuliya said, “and avoid the excruciating embarrassment of a being held accountable before the world's press. Thank you so much for correcting my unworthy thoughts, your excellencies.”
“Young woman,” Mack reprimanded her, “I think the members of this council have no need to be educated in teenage cynicism, or even that of those in their twenties. We still have some of our own. So, while our honourable ambassadors leave to inform their governments how you have acted as if you're on the side of the victims rather than the defence, I at least would like to hear what motives you would like us to ascribe to your own so-called negotiating stance. Unless your excellencies have anything to add?”
They didn't, so started to gather their papers. Yuliya didn't wait for them to leave before she answered.
“I think the princess has already spoken about this, and I thought I had too, honoured Council members. We acknowledge what guilt is of our nation; we repent of it, and we want to do what is right. Russia does not have a reputation for repenting over past sins, I know. But our negotiating stance, if you can call it that, is to do all we can to redress the wrongs of the past.”
“For what motive?” Claudia asked.
“Because the past relationship between Mars and Russia has been controlled by an evil agreement the princess wants nothing to do with.”
“Policy changes happen, yes.” Mack said.
“Right and wrong don't. Her Highness genuinely wants Mars and Russia to become friends, and quickly.”
“What's the rush?” Raul asked.
“I will happily tell the Council, but the Princess has expressed some distrust of certain other governments, so I'll wait until those leaving have actually left.” Yuliya said pointedly. The ambassadors, she'd noticed, had been shuffling the same paperwork for most of the past few interchanges.
Once they'd gone she launched straight into her answer.
“I'm asked why the rush. Can I ask, why delay? If you must find some selfish motive, then consider that honest, genuine, study for a royal princess in Russia is exceedingly difficult. On the one hand lecturers would have a terror of causing upset and future reprisal for honest and deserved criticism, and on the other hand there is the sort of lawlessness that comes with corrupt police and judges. To be safe, she would need to be unrecognised or surrounded by a major security force. I'm not saying she will study here, but she'd like the option. Other places on Earth are rather easy for would-be attackers to get to. And if you want another selfish motive, then consider national pride. The princess has argued since she was ten that our policy here was destroying our international reputation. Now she has the authority to reverse that policy.”
“Hmm. I suppose I can accept that,” Raul said, “but it seems a bit thin to me, especially since her request for a seat on the Council of Unity can't be negotiated until the end of the Mer embargo.”
“Yes, it's thin. I don't believe these selfish motives are what drive her.”
“Then what does? What's the profit motive?”
“Her imperial highness wants Mars to be a self-sufficient planet, fully impervious to the sort of things envisaged in appendix six of that evil plan, where all MarsCorp operations cease, all shipping ceases. Now that you have the Mer as allies, she is sure a blockade will not be total, so it no longer makes her wake up in tears like it has done since she was twelve. But my friend, my princess, wants to annihilate her nightmare of a planet full of starving Martians with no breathers cursing the nations that made them so dependent on imports with their dying breaths as tyrants and murderers. Quite simply, this has become a personal matter for her and she wants to make things right. She doesn't care about making a profit, she wants breathers made here, tools made here and excess crops grown here.”
“Breather manufacture needs complex processes best done in low gravity. It would be prohibitively expensive to make them on-planet,” Claudia said.
“According to MarsCorp, who have only just stopped telling people to pour bleach their heaps, and LunaCorp who make a profit on every sale, yes.”
“You mean it's propaganda?” Claudia asked.
“Princess Svetlana has been talking to a number of materials scientists at home, I believe the council should too. Hopefully she will be well enough soon to tell you of her ideas in person once you have done so.”
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Compensation shock: Russian negotiator says Council decides
In a shock move which entirely pulled the rug from under China and India's feet, the Tsarevna's negotiator first suggested increasing the compensation by a factor of ten and then suggested that any compensation for surviving relatives or fines were not a matter for international haggling, but that as a judicial body it was for the Mars Council to decide and the guilty parties to pay.
That figure of ten times the 'insulting' amount rejected earlier this week by the Tsarevna had been mentioned in press conferences by the other negotiators, who had suggested that they'd be happy to arrange for ten times the amount they claimed 'Russia was prepared to offer'. Obviously the Russian negotiator views that whole negotiating stance as nothing more than trying to win favour and paint Russia in a bad light. Russia, she declared was also happy to pay that as a token of their sorrow to relatives of those their agents had killed, calling their bluff, and raising the possibility that the compensation package as a whole will take an entire Jupiter-class transport to deliver.
However, it is her second statement that will no doubt cause the biggest issue for India and China.
The shift from a voluntary 'good will' payment to a judicially arbitrated settlement caught everyone by surprise, but opens the way for both a speedier process and brings the strong possibility that — assuming the Council agrees Russia's records are valid — additional charges might be levied against India and China for 'international assassination'. Martians are today finding out that crown Princess Svetlana's viewpoint — and thus Russia's — is remarkably similar to their own: while there might have been legal loopholes, it ought to be treated as a crime.
Also, regarding the killing of those on 'Russia's list' by other nations, Russia's viewpoint — both with hindsight, and as evidenced by their issuing warnings to people that they should hide — is that by dividing up the targeting lists based on their relative involvement in the Mars Project, the tripartite plan ascribed jurisdiction over the settled parts of the planet to the different nations based on who was where. By killing people on Russia's list, India and China thus crossed a line in international law. They overreached whatever flimsy basis they might have had for claiming their actions were an internal matter and stepped into the realm of an external action.
The Russian representative, who has recently attained her masters degree in international law, stated it was clearly the Council's prerogative to try the case as the internationally recognised judicial body over the territory in which the crimes occurred now they have come to light. Unless of course the two nations decide to declare that the court is unjust and biased against them. We can all imagine how that will sit with the Mars Council, and what it would do to their hopes of being Mars's 'best large friends'.
The legality or otherwise of international assassinations depends upon the exact circumstances. Much like a public interest defence, once the court has decided who did it, then it becomes necessary for the acting party to prove their case that they were acting in accordance with the law. The repeated assurance from China and India that they have no records means that if they are found responsible then they have no defence, and the assassination is necessarily judged as being a crime under international law.
Should they suddenly uncover some documentation that saves them from whatever punishment the Mars Council determines, they'll find themselves needing to explain why it didn't exist previously and also quite possibly find themselves at the top of every Martian's 'most hated foreign power' list.
Just what this is doing to relationships between Russia and the other two nations is something we can only speculate about.